Posts Tagged ‘Jessica Hulcy’

Today I read on a Konos loop that History of the World 3 will be available this month as an online download. It makes me sad. I hoped and prayed for several years that it would be available for this coming school year RIGHT when we needed it. And it is. My high schooler has done HOW1 (Ancient History – Founding of Rome) and HOW2 (Medieval World) ….. then when early Spring rolled around and we were making class decisions for the upcoming 2010-2011 school year, I realized that my Arizonan children do not need HOW3, or more specifically, they do need certain history requirements that don’t include four successive years of world history. The gap in their education that I have feared for nine long homeschooling years has finally surfaced….. Renaissance, Reformation and Revolution. Oh well.

My kids will be taking Government and the History of Arizona for their junior year of high school. We found a YMCA government class where the kids actually participate in AZ government. Sweet! And I plan to teach History of AZ. Both are one semester (although we’ll have to dig deep to come up with a semester worth of AZ history…. the baby state)… and necessary…… buuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuut, I’ve heard that HOW3 is Jessica Hulcy’s best work. Her magnum opus. I’m tempted to get it just to use it as a literature course. The books chosen for all of HOW are amazing, giving the student a well-rounded view of history with samplings from so many great works… the classics…. the books I never read in high school, let alone in college. Books that my husband has never heard of…. but I digress.

For the school year 2011-2012 we will be doing HOW4 – American History…. and get this…. I’ll have TWO high schoolers!!! Where, oh where, has the time gone???? Weren’t they 7, 4 and 2 just last week when we started homeschooling? Back in the good old days when it seemed like reading was going to be the missing gap. Oh, we’ve come a long way, baby.

The last Konos History of the World 1 class ended today (Ancient Civilizations through the founding of Rome, in case you’re wondering). I’m happy and I’m sad. I’m happy because it was nine grueling months of trying to stay ahead of three high schoolers. Let’s just say, it was also my first time through Mesopotamia, Sumeria, the Promise Land and Greece. I read more literature on the subject this year than the rest of my life all added up. I’m so smart now… ask me anything about hoplites, mastabas, murex snails, and chitons. Then again, as any good teacher would say, “Look it up.” I never could figure that out… if you don’t know how to spell a word, how can you look it up???? Please!

I’m sad because I love this course and I’m not teaching the HOW2 class next year. Our little Zaza will hopefully be here consuming large amounts of my time. But I do love the Konos curriculum because it engages every style of learner, especially the hands-on type. Our 10th grader will still be taking it, but not in a class setting, and we all know how consistency is improved with peer pressure! Or student pressure as the case may be.

We will have our final gathering, Greek Night, on Saturday night and then after grading the final projects I’m officially done with school for three months… but like I said before, who’s counting??? (besides ME!) This is always a joyous time for me as a homeschooling mom. This wraps up our ninth year of teaching our kids at home… and I still L-O-V-E it. With the HOW1 course, this is the first year that I have felt somewhat successful when the year is over. As homeschool moms, we know what we could’ve, should’ve, would’ve done better… after the fact. But with teaching the HOW class with OTHER people’s kids, I really made sure we studied all the goodies. Ahhhhhh. I can already feel the load lightening. Sweet relief.

And yes, I’ve started reading Quo Vadis already for next year. You can never start reading that gigantic book too soon.

Oh, and please pray for Jessica Hulcy, the author of Konos. She was in a car accident yesterday and has multiple injuries. Thanks!

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What’s the Deal with the Jar?

Welcome to My Sister's Jar. The story behind the blog lies in the original post on Feb. 2, 2008. Type "giddy moments" into the search box to find it.

I'm a homeschool mom who loves to speak and write, encouraging moms to press-on in motherhood. Two of my books are available NOW! Laughing in the Midst of Mothering and Laughing in the Midst of Marriage. See them at www.LindaCrosby.com or www.cbd.com.

I have four children, one of whom is adopted from Colombia, so there are LOTS of adoption tidbits here.
~~~~~~ Linda Ann Crosby